Students are gearing up for the final day of Spirit Week after attending the second rally during lunch today on the football field. 

After the events of the first three days of Spirit Week, the current rankings put the seniors in first with 7,200 points, juniors and sophomores tied for second with 5,900 points, and the freshmen in last with 3,200 points.

The rally notably lacked any activities or games and instead consisted of performances from the dance team, cheer team, and a teacher spirit dance. 

As a routine participant in the teacher dance, English teacher Melissa Laptalo said she enjoys being able to showcase a different aspect of herself to her students.

“I usually participate, and I love to dance,” Laptalo said. “I also like to show students a different side of me too. For whatever reason, students are sometimes surprised when they see their teachers having fun.”

According to senior Catie Nudelman, the lack of activities during the rally had a noticeable impact on the spirit each grade had.

“The games [would have] brought a lot of spirit and brought the rally a lot more energy,” Nudelman said. “Everyone probably could have been a little louder today. And with the games, we can definitely have more energy.” 

Sophomore Vivian Lin said she enjoyed the reduced number of rallies and the liveliness at each one.  

“Rallies have been pretty good,” Lin said. “It’s really similar to last year except for the fact that we didn’t have rallies on Monday and Tuesday. I think the scale back was actually a pretty good idea because it [Spirit Week] is less chaotic.” 

Many students, including junior Iris Tang, view Spirit Week as an opportunity to connect with fellow students and take a break from the stresses of school.

“Spirit Week shows how school isn’t all about academic studying,” Tang said. “It’s also participating in a community and showing your spirit and just enjoy[ing] life.”   

Approaching the final days of Spirit Week, Nudelman said she feels confident about where her class stands in the overall spirit competition. 

“I don’t know if we [seniors] are in first place yet,” Nudelman said. “But we’re doing pretty good and we’re being super respectful compared to some of our other incidents,” 

According to freshman Marley Shumaker, the freshmen need to be less timid in order to up their class spirit. 

“We [freshmen] just need more encouragement,” Shumaker said. “I feel like people are scared to do the activities because we’re the freshmen.”

Tomorrow’s spirit theme is “Sko Vikes” for all grades. The final spirit rally will take place at 2:40 p.m. after school tomorrow on the football field. 

All photos by Annelise Balentine and Leena Hussein